Ben McKeown/Associated Press

March Madness 2018 Schedule: Bracket, Round-by-Round Dates, TV Info and More

Mike Chiari

With the 2017-18 men's college basketball regular season and Selection Sunday officially in the books, March Madness is set to arrive in full force.

The NCAA tournament's field of 68 teams was revealed Sunday, and over the next few weeks it will be whittled down to one national champion.

Before that can happen, there will be several rounds of action, and it will begin with the First Four games on Tuesday and Wednesday to determine which four teams will earn spots in the tourney and which four will go home before the first round commences.

Now that the bracket is set, here is a rundown of when and where you can watch every NCAA tournament game until a new champion is crowned on April 2. 

                      

March Madness Bracket

Click to expand figure....

March Madness Printable Bracket

Available a Turner.NCAA.com.

         

Round-By-Round Dates

First Four: March 13-14

First Round: March 15-16

Second Round: March 17-18

Sweet 16: March 22-23

Elite Eight: March 24-25

Final Four: March 31

National Championship Game: April 2

           

TV Info

All games will air on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.

           

Top Championship Contenders to Watch

Duke

While Duke had some slip-ups against inferior teams this season that could haunt it in the NCAA tournament format, no team in the nation boasts more top-end talent than the Blue Devils.

It starts with National College Player of the Year candidate Marvin Bagley III, who is averaging 21.1 points per game and a double-double per contest this season.

The freshman forward is a matchup nightmare for the opposition, and since missing a handful of games due to injury, he has regained his form and appears to be peaking at the right time.

Bagley's play is supplemented by senior floor general Grayson Allen, who elevated his performance level during Bagley's recent absence. Allen is no stranger to the big stage, and he may be the biggest key in whether Duke is able to go all the way.

They don't receive as much publicity as Bagley or Allen, but the freshman triumvirate of Gary Trent Jr., Wendell Carter Jr. and Trevon Duval is what makes Duke such a complete and dangerous team.

No starting five comes close to comparing to what head coach Mike Krzyzewski is able to put on the court, and that gives the Blue Devils a big leg up on the competition.

Depth off the bench could be an issue should injuries or foul trouble strike, but there are less question marks surrounding Duke than any other team in the tournament.

                

Michigan State

Early exits in the NCAA tournament have plagued Michigan State over the past couple of years, but the Spartans once again have a roster built to make a deep run in March.

Like Duke, MSU boasts a dynamite starting five that checks every box.

Guard Miles Bridges is the unquestioned go-to guy offensively, and almost everything on that end of the floor will funnel through him.

It is far from a one-man show, however, as the duo of sophomore Nick Ward and freshman Jaren Jackson Jr. has dominated the paint all season long.

Ward is second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding, while Jackson leads the Spartans with 3.2 blocks per game and makes opposing players think twice before driving toward the basket.

That trio is supplemented by point guard Cassius Winston and his team-leading 6.8 assists per game, as well as do-everything guard Joshua Langford, who hits from downtown at a clip of 42.4 percent.

Michigan State has lost only four games this season, and its main source of kryptonite is the rival Michigan Wolverines, who knocked the Spartans off twice, including once in the Big Ten tournament.

Provided the Spartans can avoid the types of efforts they turned in against Michigan, they are perfectly constructed to go all the way.

            

Virginia

Observers have seemingly searched for reasons to discount the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers all season long, but after going 31-2 en route to winning the ACC regular-season and tournament titles, it is clear that they are true championship contenders.

The Cavs are the top defensive team in the nation by a significant margin, and if they are going to win their first national championship in program history, defense will be the main reason for it.

Virginia can't afford to get involved in an offensive shootout, and it was largely successful at avoiding them throughout the 2017-18 campaign.

During the regular season, the Cavaliers never allowed an opponent to reach the 70-point plateau in a game.

Virginia must generate some offense, though, and the go-to players in that regard figure to be sophomore guard Kyle Guy, senior guard Devon Hall and sophomore guard Ty Jerome.

While none of them are good bets to take over a game individually, they collectively do enough on the offensive end to supplement Virginia's elite defense.

It is fair to wonder if Virginia's lack of offensive dynamism will come back to haunt it during the latter part of the tournament, but it wasn't an issue during the regular season.

The old adage is that defense wins championships, and head coach Tony Bennett's team will undoubtedly put that to the test.

   

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